Naruto, my father's name is Uchiha Madara.

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Nagato's voice was soft, as if she were talking to herself: "Perhaps... I can... try to believe in this naive dream again..."

Before he could finish speaking, a woman's anxious, tearful voice came from afar.

"Nagato!!!"

A figure, as if losing all composure, staggered and slid from a height into a deep pit, landing beside Nagato.

Her once cold and refined face was now filled with worry and fear.

With trembling hands, he carefully examined Nagato's shocking injuries, especially the charred wound on his chest from the Rasengan.

"Nagato! How is your body...? That dark chakra..."

Konan's voice was choked with sobs; she knew all too well the fragility of Nagato's true form.

They simply couldn't withstand such a fierce battle and the backlash from that unknown force.

Nagato looked at this only remaining close friend who had accompanied her through all the pain and obsession.

His eyes were filled with guilt and indescribable complex emotions.

He shook his head slightly and, with Xiao Nan's help, managed to stand up straight.

"It's alright... for now."

Nagato's voice was still weak, but it seemed to have regained a bit of clarity: "That foreign... dark chakra, most of it... was forcibly absorbed and transformed by the Preta Path's ability in the end... to defend against the attack."

"Although it puts a great strain on the body, it also seems to have severed the connection..."

He could feel the cold energy that had been constantly tempting him and amplifying his negative emotions gradually fading from his body.

Naruto, who was standing nearby, keenly caught the key words and frowned deeply: "That guy? Dark chakra? Nagato, what exactly is that black thing inside your body?"

Nagato took a breath, looked at Naruto, and replied, "It was... provided to me by a man named Shennong who claimed to be an orphan from the Sky Village."

"He said... his research on dark chakra... could stimulate physical activity, heal my wounds... and grant me... the power to achieve my dreams..."

"Shennong?!"

When Naruto heard the name, his eyes widened instantly, his face filled with disbelief!

"How could it be him?! That guy... that frail-looking wandering doctor who travels around practicing medicine?!"

Naruto immediately pictured the man who always carried a medicine box and had a kind smile on his face.

He also made a brief stay in Konoha, and even treated some villagers for medical reasons. He gave the impression of being a kind-hearted ordinary medical ninja!

How did he get involved with the Akatsuki organization?

How can it provide such bizarre and powerful dark chakra?

This matter... this matter must be reported to Granny Tsunade immediately!

There's definitely something wrong with this Shennong!

Seeing Naruto's shocked expression, Nagato seemed to understand something and whispered, "It seems... we've all been used... that power does indeed carry a strong... desire for destruction and control..."

He paused for a moment, then turned his gaze back to Naruto, his Rinnegan eyes filled with heavy regret and relief.

“Naruto… before, I was blinded by hatred and tempted by power…”

"For that twisted goal, I did too many irreparable mistakes... hurt too many innocent people... even... almost killed Jiraiya-sensei..."

Naruto listened quietly without interrupting. His fists clenched slightly, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

He remembered Gaara's pale face when the tailed beast was extracted, and the almost broken body of the Perverted Sage.

Naruto took a deep breath, raised his head, and looked at Nagato with a frank and direct gaze: "I have no right to forgive you on behalf of those you have hurt."

“Even deep in my heart, I cannot easily forgive what you did to the perverted sage and to Gaara.”

His words were blunt, even somewhat harsh.

But it is exceptionally real, without hypocritical tolerance or accusations blinded by anger.

Upon hearing this, Nagato trembled slightly, then revealed an even more bitter smile, as if he had long anticipated this answer.

Naruto's tone shifted, becoming even more resolute: "I believe in the Perverted Sage's unwavering belief until the very end!"

"I believe in his answer about 'understanding' that he wrote in the book!"

"I am willing to inherit this ideal and fight for it to the very end! This is my choice!"

Nagato stared blankly at Naruto, at the light of conviction in the boy's eyes, as blazing and pure as the sun.

After a long while, he nodded slowly and with great seriousness.

“Ah…yes…”

His voice was filled with exhaustion, yet also carried a hint of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted: "Now... all I can do... is perhaps... use this remaining life and these eyes... to atone for my sins..."

Can atonement bring back a lost life?

There are no answers to any of this.

But the sun had indeed shone down, illuminating the devastated battlefield.

It also illuminated three people standing in a deep pit, with complicated relationships and an unknown future.

The rain has stopped, but the real test may have just begun.

From the distant ruins, the faint cries and shouts of survivors could be heard.

The road to peace remains long and arduous.

Chapter 367 Jiraiya Survives

Konoha Village, Konoha Hospital, Special Intensive Care Unit.

The air was filled with the strong smell of disinfectant, mixed with the bitter aroma of herbs.

The medical equipment emitted a regular, soft ticking sound, and the fluctuating curves and numbers on the screen sustained the faint life force of the person on the hospital bed.

The ward door was suddenly pulled open, and footsteps were hurried and heavy.

Tsunade practically stormed in, her usual composure and authority as Hokage completely gone.

Those amber eyes, which always sparkled with confidence or anger, now held only undisguised panic and a trace of... humble expectation.

Her gaze instantly locked onto the hospital bed.

There, Jiraiya lay quietly, his face as pale as paper, his breathing so weak that his chest was barely rising and falling.

His left arm was severed at the shoulder, and the wound was carefully bandaged, but one could still imagine the horrific scene.

His body was connected to various life support and monitoring cables, and his exposed skin showed many horrific scars left by black rods.

Even with the best medical ninjutsu, the scene was still shocking.

He was like a piece of porcelain that had been broken and then pieced back together, so fragile that it seemed as if the slightest touch would cause it to disintegrate completely.

However, the vital signs waveforms on the instrument, though faint, were persistent.

Like the brightest light, it instantly pierced through all the fear and gloom that had accumulated in Tsunade's heart!

That peeping tom, that idiot, that unreliable yet more reliable than anyone else...

He's really still alive!

An immense, indescribable ecstasy overwhelmed Tsunade like a tsunami, shattering all her facade of strength.

Tears welled up without warning and streamed down her smooth cheeks.

She abruptly covered her mouth, but couldn't suppress the choked sobs that mixed with crying and laughter.

"That...bastard..."

She cursed under her breath, her voice trembling uncontrollably, as she slowly moved to the bedside.

Trembling hands gently caressed Jiraiya's only remaining, icy hand, as if to confirm that this was not a dream.

God knows how she managed to get through this period.

Ever since Jiraiya decided to go to Amegakure alone to investigate the leader of the Akatsuki organization, an extremely ominous premonition has been lingering in her heart.

She went to the casino, a place she hadn't visited in a long time, trying to numb herself and distract herself with the familiar noise and the thrill of winning and losing.

However, something strange happened.

No matter what she plays—

Dice, dominoes, even slot machines—she wins!

Winning irrationally and insanely!

The casino owner's face went from surprise to paleness, and finally he almost cried.

The "legendary fat sheep" who always loses at gambling.

They actually broke the curse that had lasted for decades and became blessed by the goddess of fortune.

But Tsunade's heart sank with each victory, growing colder and colder.

She knows her luck all too well.

This unusual "good luck" only means one thing—

Something extremely big and "unfortunate" is happening or about to happen.

And this "misfortune" undoubtedly points to that idiot who sneaked into the den of dragons and tigers!

As the Hokage, she was unable to leave the village to provide support.

Therefore, the only option was to immediately request the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, to lead an elite squad to Amegakure.

But even traveling at full speed, it would take at least a day and a night to get from Konoha to the Land of Rain!

That day and night was the longest and most agonizing wait of her life.

Every second she was filled with fear, fear that the next piece of news would be the devastating confirmation of Jiraiya's death.

I'm afraid that if we meet again, I'll see his cold, lifeless corpse.

Just like the broken rope tree back then...

She could never bear the pain of losing the most important person in her life a third time.